Breeding Blanket
The layer that captures fusion neutrons to breed tritium and recover heat.
Surrounding the plasma, the breeding blanket slows fusion neutrons, breeds tritium from lithium, and recovers the neutrons' energy as heat. Its tritium breeding ratio must exceed 1 for the plant to be fuel-self-sufficient.
HYPERION's blanket targets a breeding ratio of 1.8 to produce 4.0 kg/yr of tritium while co-producing helium-3 for the burner.
The breeding blanket does three jobs at once: it slows fusion neutrons, breeds tritium from lithium, and recovers the neutrons' energy as heat. Its breeding ratio must exceed one with margin for the plant to fuel itself. HYPERION targets 1.8, producing 4.0 kg/yr of tritium while co-producing helium-3 for the burner.
Common questions
It slows fusion neutrons to breed tritium from lithium and recovers their energy as heat, targeting a breeding ratio of 1.8 for fuel self-sufficiency.